Sheet glass apparatus



April 2, 1935. w. OWEN SHEET GLASS APPARATUS Filed June 28, 1934 2Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VENTOR w/L-L. IFIM Ou/EN BY f 4/ A TTURNEYS' April 2,1935. W. OWEN 1,996,387

SHEET GLASS APPARATUS Filed June 28, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 om 0m omPatented Apr. 2, 1935 UNITED s'mrr-zs 1,996,387 'snss'r cuss arrana'rusWilliam Owen, Pittsburgh, Pa., burgh Plate Glass Company,

Pennsylvania assignor to Pittsa corporation of Application June 28,1934, Serial No. 732,802

5 Claims.

The invention relates to the manufacture of sheet glass by the verticaldrawing method, and has particularly to do with the handling of theglass sheets which are cut from the continuously formed ribbon as itemerges from the top of the leer. It has for its objects the provisionof improved arrangement for transferring the sheets from a vertical to ahorizontal position and cutting them into strips during such operation,thus reducing the labor in handling to a'minimum and eliminating a largepart of the cutting costs, since the operators, who are required'for thehandling operation, can in the interim between such operations cut theglass sheet into strips. A further object is the provision of anapparatus which will handle the very large sheets, which it is now thepractice to produce, with a minimum amount of breakage and without anyhazard on the part of the operator. Briefly the above objectsareaccomplished by the use of a tilting take-down frame provided withmeans for engaging the glass sheet and supporting and lifting it afterit iscut from the ribbon, which frame is also provided with glassscoring means permitting the sheet to be cut into strips while still onthe frame, this structure being coordinated with means for quicklyremoving the scored sheet from the tilting frame after it reacheshorizontal position and 30 then cracking it along the lines of scoring.One

embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings,wherein:

Figure l is a side elevation, of the apparatus. Fig. 2 is an endelevation. And Fig. 3 is a detail view of a portion of the cutter bridgeon an enlarged scale, su'ch view being a front elevation.

Referring to the drawings, I is the upper portion of a vertical leer ofthe Fourcault type through which a glass ribbon 2 is continuously drawnby means of the usual pairs of driven rolls 3, 3, which frictionallyengage the sides of the ribbon. This type of apparatus for continuouslydrawing a glass ribbonflorsheet from a bath is well known in the artandrequires no further v I speed of draw so that,

description. c

Mounted for tilting movement above the end of the leer is a frame 4 made'up of channels 5 and a face plate 6 provided withthe slots 1 throughwhich transfer rollers are adapted to project when the frame is swung tohorizontal position, as later described. The frame is' provided at itslower end with a pair of plates la, la pivoted upon the standards 8, 8by means of a transversely extending hollowshaft 9. When the tiltingframe is in vertical position, as shown in Fig. 1, its front face isparallel to the line of movement of the glass sheet 2. The frame istilted to move it from vertical to horizontal position by means of apair of arms Hi, It pivoted at H to the plates la, la and having theirother ends pivoted to the cranks l2, I2 keyed to the transverse shaft13. Thisshaft is rotatedfrom the electric motor l4 through suitablereduction gearing, including aworm and a worm wheel in the casing I5.

In order to assist in drawing the glass and 10 to move the sheet upquickly after it has been cut of! intermediate the leer and the lowerend of-the frame, a vacuum frame It is guided for movementlongitudinally of the tilting frame 4 and is provided with a pluralityof vacuum cups I1, suitable means being providedfor evacuating the cups,which means includes the pipe l8 'connected to suitable exhaustingmeans. The vacuum frame is'moved up and down by a pair of cables l9, l9extending over pulleys 20, 20 at the top of the frame 4 and secured attheir lower ends to the drums 2|, 2|. These drums are mounted upon atransverse shaft 22 which is rotated by a motor 23 carried by one of theplates la, which motor operates to rotate the shaft through theintermediary of worm gearing in the casing 24. As soon as the end of theribbon arrives opposite the lower portion of the frame-4, the vacuumframe is positioned opposite such end and the vacuum cups are engagedwiththe face of the glass sheet. The motor. 23 is then started, causingthe vacuum frame to move upward so that force is applied to assist inthe drawing of the sheet.

When the vacuum frame arrives at about the position indicated in Fig. l,the glass ribbon is severed intermediate the end of the leer and thebottom of the frame 4 and the vacuum frame then operates to move thesheet up rapidly until the vacuum frame arrives at a. point adjacent theextreme upper end of the frame 4. This rapid movement occurs due to thefact that the motor speed is normally much in excess of the when thesheet is severed and the load on themotor reduced, ,it operates to drawthe severed sheet up quickly to its up-, permost position preliminary totilting the frame. When the vacuum frame arrives at its upper limit ofmovement, the further operation of the motor 23 is stopped, preferablyby a limit switch (not shown) which is actuated by the frame It. Theframe 4 is now tilted by the motor l4 acting through the cranks l2 andconnecting rods l0, bringing it to the position indicated 'at A indotted lines,- at which time it approaches a horizontal position, butstill lies a few degrees above such position.

It is at this position that the sheet, which is supported upon theframe, is cut into strips. and such cutting is accomplished by means ofa cutting bridge 25 which is mounted for movement longitudinally of theframe 4. This bridge is mounted for movement longitudinally of the frameon the rails 25, 26 extending along the edges of the frame, and isoperated to accomplish the cutting function by means of a pair ofendless chains 21, 21 extending over pulleys 22, 23

at the upper end of the frame and around theidler pulleys 29, 30 anddriven pulleys 3|, such latter pulleys being mounted upon a shaft 3awhich lies inside the hollow shaft 5 constituting the pivot of thetilting frame. The shaft 80 is driven from an electric. motor 32 carriedby one of the plates 10., and drives such shaft 3a through theintermediary of worm gearing in the casing 33.

The precise bridge and cutter construction is immaterial in so far asthe present invention is concerned, but is preferably of the form shownin my application, Serial No. 686,961, dated August 26. 1933. Itincludes a transverse beam 34 of U-shape, in which are mounted aplurality of caniages 35, 35, each of which supports a cutting tool 35,so that the cutting tools may be adjusted to any desired positionlongitudinally of the beam 34, the carriages being provided with wheels31 which run in suitable grooves in the flanges of the beam. The cutters35 are mounted upon arms 35 which are raised and lowered from handles38. when these handles'are in one position, the cutters are in raisedposition, and when the handles are rotated through an angle of 90degrees, the cutters are in operative position. Two of the cutting toolsare located adjacent the edges of the sheet for trimming of! such edges,while the other cutters are adjusted so as to out the sheet into stripsof any desired width. The adjustment of these cutters will depend uponthe location of any defects observed in the sheet by the operator, andupon the size of glass which it is desired to produce in the finishedproduct. when the frame 4 is in vertical position, and while the glasssheet is being positioned on such frame preliminary to cutting it oiland moving it to horizontal position, the cutters 33 are in retractedposition so that they do not engage the surface of the glass. It isduring this period that the carriages supporting the cutters areadjusted longitudinally of the beam 4 to their proper positions forcutting as dictated by the judgment of the operator, the bridge at thistime occupying the position adjacent the lower end of the frame 4, asindicated in Fig. 1.

After the sheet has been cut off and moved to its upper position, thehandles 35 controlling the cutter arms 33 are moved to horizontalposition to set the cutters 36, thus completing the preparation for thecutting operation after the frame has been moved to approximatelyhorizontal position, as indicated in dotted lines at A. When the frame 4arrives at this position, the motor 32, which drives the chains 21, isstarted so that the cutting bridge moves longitudinally of the frame 4,thus scoring the sheet carried uponthe frame, as the bridge moves fromits position adjacent the lower end of the frame to a position at theother end of the frame, thus completing the scoring operation andpreparing the sheet for the cracking ofi operation, which removes theextreme edges of the sheet and separates it into strips. When thecutting bridge arrives at the end of its movement, it may be stopped bythrowing the switch of the motor 32, but this operation is preferablymade automatic by having the bridge engage a limit switch, which thusstops the motor and interrupts the movement of the bridge.

To remove the sheet which has thus been scored from the tilting frame, atransfer table is provided lying immediately below the tilting framewhen such frame is in horizontal position. This transfer table is madeup of the plurality of parallel shafts 40, each provided with a.plurality of spaced rollers 4| positioned so that when the tilting framereaches the horizontal position marked B, the rollers will projectthrough the slot 1 in the plate 6 and receive the glass sheet. At thistime the shafts 40 are rotated so as to carry the glass sheet laterallyonto the snapping table 42 (Fig. 2) The rotation of the shafts 40 isaccomplished from a motor 43 which drives the sprocket 44 through theintermediary of suitable reduction gearing in the casing 45. The chain46 passes around the sprocket 44 on the shaft 41 and around sprockets48, 48, 48, etc. on the ends of the shafts 40. This chain also passesaround a series of idler sprockets 49, 49, etc. (Fig. 2) which carry thechain below the level of the shafts 40. The purpose of this expedient isto provide spaces for the channels 5 of the frame 4 when such frame isin horizontal position. Suitable switch mechanism is provided forstarting the motor 43 and causing the sheet to be run ofl. onto thecracking off table 42 when the tilting frame 4 reaches horizontalposition. As soon as the sheet is run onto the cracking off table 42,the tilting frame 4 is swung back to vertical position, as indicated inFig. 1, the bridge 25 being moved back to the position shown in Fig. 1as the frame swings to its original position. The apparatus is now readyfor a second operation, which is carried out as heretofore described.

The snapping ofl' table is provided with a series of rolls 50 forreceiving the glass sheet and is also provided with suitable crackingoif means. As shown, this cracking off means comprises a verticallymovable angle 5i which can be moved up by means of the foot pedal 52.This pedal is keyed to the shaft 53 which is provided with crank arms 54connected to the angle 5| by means of the bars 55. This provides a meansfor applying upward pressure to the glass sheet beneath one of the linesof scoring and so causing the sheet to crack along this line. In orderto prevent the sheet from lifting when upward pressure is applied by theangle 5|, a series of rollers 56 are provided carried by the arms 51,which rollers are positioned to engage the surface of the sheet. Thearms 51 are-carried by a transverse bar 58 supported on suitablebrackets at the sides of the table. At the extreme left hand side of thetable is a snapping bar 59 which comes into play in snapping off theextreme forward edge of the sheet, which is waste glass. The sheet isrun forward to the position indicated in Fig. 2, and the edge snapped bythe operator who manually applies downward pressure thereto. Thesuccessive strips are snapped from the sheet by moving the sheet step bystep to the left and applying upward pressure by the bar 5| as each lineof scoring is positioned over such bar.

What I claim is:

1. In combination in apparatus for handling and scoring glass sheets cutfrom a continuous sheet or ribbon emerging from a vertical leer, atilting frame mounted above the leer, means on the frame for engagingthe glass sheet as it moves upward and for lifting it after it is cutoff, and a cutter bridge mounted on the frame for movementlongitudinally thereof and pro vided with scoring tools.

2. In combination in apparatus for handling and scoring glass sheets cutfrom a continuous sheet or ribbon emerging from a vertical leer, atilting frame mounted above the leer, a vacuum frame provided withvacuum cups mounted on the tilting frame for movement longitudinally andadapted to engage the glass sheet and to lift it after it is cut off, acutter bridge mounted on the tilting frame for movement longitudinallythereof and provided with scoring means, and power means carried by thetilting frame for moving the vacuum frame and the bridge.

3. In combination in apparatus for handlingand scoring glass sheets cutfrom a continuous sheet or ribbon emerging from a vertical leer, atilting frame mounted above the leer, means on the frame for engagingthe glass sheet as it moves upward and for lifting it after it is cutoff, a cutter bridge mounted on the frame for a tilting frame mountedabove the leer, means on the frame for engaging the glass sheet as itmoves upward and for lifting it after it is cut oil, a cutter bridgemounted on the frame for movement longitudinally thereof and providedwith cutting tools, a horizontal transfer table adapted to receive theglass sheet from the tilting frame when it is swung to horizontalposition and to carry such sheet laterally, and a snapping table at theside of the transfer table adapted to receive the sheet therefrom andprovided with means for cracking the sheet along the lines of scoring.

5. In combination in apparatus for handling and scoring glass sheets cutfrom a continuous sheet or ribbon emerging from a vertical leer, atilting frame mounted above the leer, means on the frame for engagingthe glass sheet as it is swung to horizontal position and to carry suchsheet laterally, a snapping table at the side of the transfer table inposition to receive the glass sheet therefrom, and power means carriedby the tilting frame for tilting such frame and for moving the cutterbridge.

WILLIAM OWEN.

